Proverbs 2 v 9 - 11 - Virtues of Wisdom

v9 tells us that when we have wisdom, we will understand right from wrong, what the good and right thing to do but from God's eyes, not from the world's eyes. There are some overlapping ideas, but it is doing what God thinks is right. This is a very simple concept, we said earlier that wisdom is about having experience, possibly first hand, or second hand. if you've seen or you know the effects of drugs, you will know that it is wrong, illegal and not what God wants, so you've learnt through experience.

virtue #1 - righteousness - being right, knowing what is right and doing it. conforming to God's way of thinking.


virtue #2 - judgement - judging correctly, analyse a matter clearly and come to a correct conclusion


virtue #3 - equity - being fair in a situation, and impartial, makes people trust you a lot more


Wisdom will come into your mind, and knowledge will please you. emphasis here on the internalization of wisdom, how it must be head and heart knowledge and that we're applying it to every day life.

Proverbs 2 v 5 - 8 - Benefits of Wisdom

v5 promises that if you have wisdom, you will understand fear for God and finding the knowledge of God. in general, understanding the fear for God, and the knowledge of God are things are pretty hard to get, and not many people do get them. but those who have the right mindset, and ask God for wisdom, they'll get it. Relates to the narrow / wide gate (Matthew 7:13) , few get in the narrow gate because it's harder but is ultimately better. so this is a bonus of  wisdom, we'll get extra knowledge of God. But the knowledge of God also is about knowing God personally, and when we know God better, we'll submit and obey. And through knowledge of God will lead to salvation, and eternal life through JC.


John 17:3 And this is eternal life: that people know you, the only true God, and that they know Jesus Christ, the One you sent.


We only get wisdom, through God and nothing else, through his written word primarily, but also through the holy spirit and through other wiser Godly people, and it gives us understanding and knowledge. There's a huge distinction between human intelligence (slightly ironic that I couldn't spell intelligence) and wisdom. We can't measure wisdom through IQ tests and through PhD's and degrees and etc. 


God stores wisdom up for the righteous, and protects the blameless, like in titus, doesn't mean sinless, it means those who seek God and do what he wants, and have a faith in JC, and yeah. So, we need to be righteous and blameless, in order to get wisdom. God makes sure justice is done, and protects all those who are loyal. So, when we seek wisdom, and we get wisdom, God shows us the benefits of it as well. 

Proverbs 2 v 1 - 4 - How to get Wisdom

So, to start today the first instruction is to listen. Wisdom requires listening to someone else. Acting like you are already wise, you aren't exactly humbling yourself, you're not going to learn. As sort of human nature, we hate to be wrong, we hate to be corrected. But as followers of JC, we need to humble, we need to accept our sinfulness and accept criticism and listen to those who can help us. Here, Soloman, or someone else says "my child". Using the same analogy, it's the father who has experience telling the child what to do, not in a bossy way but because they know better.  It's often when teenagers reject what their parents say that get's them into mess.


The second instruction in v1 is to remember like we've all said at some point, there's no point in doing QTs like this, and not remembering, and therefore not applying it to our lives. It would be worse to be taught something and forget it, than to not know it at all. 
Hebrews 2:1 So we must be more careful to follow what we were taught. Then we will not stray away from the truth


The third instruction, within v2 is to set your mind on understanding. Interesting, some versions say heart, some say mind. Okay so you have to be in mindset with wisdom. Unless you aren't ready to listen to something, you won't learn it. Again, many people hate hearing the truth, no one wants to hear that what they are doing is wrong, people unless we have the mindset for wanting to gain wisdom, and wanting to understand it, we're not going to get it. 
2 Timothy 4:3 because the time will come when people will not listen to the true teaching but will find many more teachers who please them by saying the things they want to hear.


The fourth instruction, in v3 says to cry out for wisdom. God answers prayer when we ask him. It's so easy to ask God for things, and I know I don't as often as I should do. But, is the reason you have little wisdom, because you simply haven't asked for it? Ask with faith in God, in the right mindset of aquiring wisdom. There's many examples of this within the bible, and God does the same now as he did then
James 1:5 But if any of you needs wisdom, you should ask God for it. He is generous to everyone and will give you wisdom without criticizing you.


The fifth instruction in v4 i to search for wisdom. Silver, in the times of Jesus was probably a very big thing, people wanted it. Think of the thing that is most valuable to you, or even a person that's very valuable to you. With the person, you want to talk to them, get to know them, meet up, chat, grow your relationship, constantly working at that relationship. Similar with wisdom, we need diligence and to work at getting wisdom, just as hard as working towards a relationship or seeking something like silver. You need to give up other things in your life to gain wisdom, and you can't let yourself be distracted by other things in world whilst trying to get this wisdom. This has to be active faith, not being lazy and passive!
Jeremiah 29:13 You will search for me. And when you search for me with all your heart, you will find me!


Just a mini recap then;


Listen, remember, set your mind on wisdom, cry out and search for wisdom. 

Proverbs 1 v 28 - 33 - Wisdom = life or death?

Wisdom here is still personified!

So when fools look for wisdom and for knowledge, she won't be there, because she was rejected once already, and they didn't respect the Lord. They didn't accept wisdom's advice, rejected her correction, it was too late. So, linking this back into other parts of the bible, in Matthew 5:1-13, it's the story with the bridesmaids and basically because half the bridesmaids were foolish, they didn't get into the feast (read whole thing at: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew%2025:1-13&version=NCV) So, shows that it can be too late and people won't be able to find wisdom. 

Because they chose themselves through free will to not accept wisdom, and to not accept God ultimately, they will get what they deserve. They will be destroyed because of what they have done. People are responsible for their own choices, and whether they know it or not, they are consequences. 

Galatians 6:7-8  Do not be fooled: You cannot cheat God. People harvest only what they plant. If they plant to satisfy their sinful selves, their sinful selves will bring them ruin. But if they plant to please the Spirit, they will receive eternal life from the Spirit.

There are only two ways with wisdom. You either don't take it, you are a fool, and you will be destroyed. Or you can listen to wisdom and you will live in safety and peace. It's up to you. Wisdom is a matter of life and death. Sadly it's everyone's own choice whether to choose wisdom because of free will, you can't choose for them, so it's sad when people don't choose wisdom. Wisdom leads to God and life, and guess what, God wants us to choose life!

Deuteronomy 30:19 - 20 Today I ask heaven and earth to be witnesses. I am offering you life or death, blessings or curses. Now, choose life! Then you and your children may live. To choose life is to love the Lord your God, obey him, and stay close to him. He is your life, and he will let you live many years in the land, the land he promised to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Proverbs 1 v 20 - 27- Hello there, Wisdom

Wisdom here is personified! So it says that wisdom is like a woman shouting in the streets, who raises her voice, who shouts and cries out. No, not annoying (although a woman shouting, is annoying) but the point here is that wisdom is available to everyone, it doesn't single people out. Wisdom isn't only for the elect, wisdom is available to everyone, but obviously, not everyone chooses wisdom.


Next it is saying that those without wisdom are foolish. Wisdom cries out for the people like the inexperienced, mockers and fools to love wisdom and to stop hating knowledge. Wisdom is there, but people are refusing to listen, people aren't paying attention, and did not follow it's advice.


Wisdom will now laugh when it's in trouble, when there's disaster, when there's trouble, when there's pain, when the result of their action is because they didn't listen to wisdom. Not in a mean way apparently, in an absurd way. Like in:
Psalm 2:4 But the one who sits in heaven laughs; the Lord makes fun of them


Okay so I was thinking about wisdom, and how is it available to all people. The main ways in which wisdom comes, are gut feelings, through wise and the advice of people and through God and the bible.
Gut feelings - regardless of faith, people know the right from the wrong, and people have a gut feeling of what they are about to do. Many people ignore it though, due to peer pressure, by not being in full control, or they are convinced this is the right thing to do.
Advice - non Christians and Christians get advice on situations, which someone may respond with wisdom, saying what they should really do, but again, many people ignore it
God - Looking in the bible, obviously is the best kind of wisdom, it shows us what God thinks and how we should act.


So this is referring to many different people, but mainly people who haven't made their mind up, kind of floating in between which direction, Godly or Not Godly to take. But I think this can relate to anyone, that wisdom is available to Christians who sometimes don't take it and do take it, wisdom is available to non Christians who take it, and don't take it, it's a very circumstance based situation. 

Proverbs 1 v 10 - 19 - Young people, don't do it!

The writer gives a list of things that attract young people in particular. 

Okay so imagine these guys going:


"hey blud, come and ambush these people, we're gona kill dem, attack innocent people just for the lols. we're gona steal as well, all the expensive stuff and den put it in our house, yeah?"


So, there's loads of people who act like this in real life, possibly who do / don't speak as chavily as i just wrote though. People like the temporary thrill and excitement and adventure of doing something against the law. Things that people like this do, is wrong against the laws of the world, but against the laws against God, so there really is no justification for doing it. There are many reasons for joining in stuff like this, like peer pressure and longing for acceptance so we shouldn't judge them but help. And obv, this applies to everything, drink and drugs and etc, not just stealing and murder but yeah.


These people "gain the world but they lose their soul" which is a pretty famous quote which can apply to a million situations, but especially this one. 



And then the "parents" say (who are very wise):
"No don't do it, don't go along with these "youths". they are eager to sin, and quick to do evil, don't get involved."
He makes the point of sinners, but unGodly sinners, falling into traps, how their sin will backfire into their face.
Matthew 26:52 Jesus said to the man, "Put your sword back in its place. All who use swords will be killed with 
swords. 
And eventually they will die. So here, it's saying wisdom is a matter of life and death, which is knowing God vs not knowing God. he will repay all the evil people in this life or in the next life.
Romans 2:6 God will reward or punish every person for what that person has done.

Proverbs 1 v 7 - Start with God

Proverbs 1 v 3 - 6 - How will Proverbs help me?

So these proverbs do a lot, they teach us and everyone different things;


teach how to be wise and self controlled

this is a different wise though, it means "To receive the instruction - השכל haskel, the deliberately weighing of the points contained in the teaching, so as to find out their importance." So, these proverbs teach us how to apply it, in many translations it says "disciplined and prudent life" which basically means the same thing, being self controlled and having a good judgment, Which we need in every day life! We need to be self controlled in our sins, break away from bad habits and have a good judgment on the right and wrong things we do, making sure we're aware. 

teach how to be honest, right and fair
pretty self explanatory: being honest, right, and fair is what Jesus would have done, it's how he would have acted. 
being honest - yeah, not telling lies, i don't need to explain this. but  . . did you check the "i am 18" button to watch that film, regardless whether you aren't 18? did you tell a white lie to make someone feel better? did you really read the terms and conditions? (but, making the distinction between clicking, i accept them, and i read them obv). is it easier to say you don't have any gum, when you do? it's so easy to tell little lies, but it's not honest, and we shouldn't behave in that way.
doing what is right - i could get philosophical and talk about what is considered right? utilitarianism uses the "right" as a situation where the majority benefit: i'm not saying this is how we should live though. If you're in doubt, get out of the situation, pray, look in the bible, look to someone whose a mature christian who can help you decide what is right, or just go with your gut feeling. if it is really a wrong action, usually your conscious will tell you.
being fair - although as humans, we tend to have a lot of favouritism, and there's many situations in life where we need to act fairly. It is defined as, acting within the rules. I am not saying the bible is a rule book, but in many situations it says to feed the hungry, to help those in poverty. are you being fair, following the bible and helping those in need?


make the uneducated wise
my commentary describes uneducated as "simple, lack judgment, gullible, undiscerning and inexperienced." as mentioned yesterday, people are wise because of their experience, they have learned right from wrong by going through it. not everyone needs to experience bad things first hand, it can be seen through examples. but these proverbs help to teach us the right from wrong: for all those who lack judgement, the proverbs will show the right judgement. 


give knowledge and sense to the young
this could be referring to young children, which they can learn from proverbs too, but I took it as in, young Christians. the best book to probably get the basic truths of life from would be Romans or Proverbs where the life truths are spelled out, and teach us how to live. 


wise people can listen and learn
no one ever stops learning, older people shouldn't become complacent and self confident, because we are sinful by nature, there is something we need to all learn, no matter how old we are. but it's showing us that we don't need to just be young to learn, everyone is still learning, no matter where on our walk of faith we are on. 


anyone can understand, applicable to anyone
as said before, the young can understand, the old can understand. it means that anything in Proverbs can be applicable to anyone, it may have different meanings to everyone. on one QT, you might pick out something that hits home more than someone else, similar to Proverbs, everyone can get something out of it. 

Proverbs 1 v 1 - 2 - What is wisdom?

Proverbs is called "wisdom sayings" mostly written by Solomon, written to tell people how to live wisely, and pretty much applicable to anyone! 


v1
Okay so firstly, Solomon may / may not have written all of them, we know he's written over 3,000 sayings from:
1 Kings 4:32: During his life he spoke three thousand wise sayings and also wrote one thousand five songs
but he may not have written the entire of his book, but hey, no point getting bogged down in minute details, if God really wanted us to know, he'd made sure it was specific enough, but clearly it really doesn't matter WHO wrote it, but more important WHAT it says!


v2
The point of these proverbs is to gain wisdom and self control, and understand wisdom itself.
Wisdom isn't just an old man, but what is wise? There is 297 mentions of the word "wise" in the bible, and it is defined as "having or showing experience, knowledge, and good judgment"


1) Wisdom is a gift from God
All wisdom originally comes from God, as shown in:
James 1:5 But if any of you needs wisdom, you should ask God for it. He is generous to everyone and will give you wisdom without criticizing you.
So God will give us this wisdom, he wants to give it to us


2) Wisdom is about applications
But wisdom isn't just head knowledge, a huge part of wisdom is being able to apply it too. 
Matthew 7:24 Everyone who hears my words and obeys them is like a wise man
We all know the story of the wise / foolish man, but it's applications are relevant no matter if you are a child or an 80 year old. He was saved, because he heard God's word and applied it to his own life. It's a great start to learn, but it's even better if you can apply it, or you pretty much are being hypocritical. 


3) Wisdom is God's wisdom, not human wisdom
But again, to make the distinction, it's not human knowledge, it's God knowledge. So it's not just about why gravity works on earth, but not in space, but about God knowledge. Again can be cross referenced with James in 
James 3:15a That kind of "wisdom" does not come from God but from the world


4) Wisdom is made available through Jesus
In Colossians it talked of how the secret of God, was made known through Jesus, and similarly here, wisdom of God is made available to all of us through Jesus. 
1 Corinthians 1:24 But Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God to those people God has called—Jews and Greeks.
1 Corinthians 1:30 Because of God you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God. In Christ we are put right with God, and have been made holy, and have been set free from sin.


5) Faith -> Wisdom -> Discipline
Unfortunately, wisdom doesn't come to us effortlessly, and painlessly. We learn wisdom through our faith, but also through God's discipline. The entire of proverbs highlight all our flaws, our sins, and even though it's hard, we have to keep going through faith, to get wisdom and discipline ourselves. 


The basic ways for how to acquire wisdom is to know it, to perceive it, and to recieve it.